[dvallere]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jSatch Another potential advantage may be, I’m not sure yet, longevity. The open cell structure of the PVC (eg., E-A-R Classics) tips may tend to have fewer cycles of compression and expansion than the denser celled urethane tips. There have been many complaints regarding the longevity of foam tips on this site. I don’t know if anyone ever compared longevity with material (eg, PVC vs. Urethane).

I haven't done any specific comparisons but did find just through general observation that the Comply tips from Westone lasted longer than the rough stuff from UE. It seemed that any earwax would just lay on top of the surface of the Comply whereas it would melt into the holes on the UE foamies and not come out. The Comply tips came clean with a gentle wash in liquid Ivory and water, and sprung back to shape when dry. The UE tips didn't really seem to get clean, plus, they lost a lot of their bounce over time.

Comply: can get them to last 3 weeks of use, with good care, before they just go too flat to be useful. This is about 1-2 hrs a day.

Open cell: lasts about 1 week of the same usage.

Ultimately I found that trying to wash the UE foamies gained me so little (like, 1 hour extra listening time before they crapped out) that I gave up and started tossing them after a week. But this got $$ so I sold the Super.fi and went back to the UM2.

D.

 

[jSatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvallere I haven't done any specific comparisons but did find just through general observation that the Comply tips from Westone lasted longer than the rough stuff from UE. It seemed that any earwax would just lay on top of the surface of the Comply whereas it would melt into the holes on the UE foamies and not come out. The Comply tips came clean with a gentle wash in liquid Ivory and water, and sprung back to shape when dry. The UE tips didn't really seem to get clean, plus, they lost a lot of their bounce over time. Comply: can get them to last 3 weeks of use, with good care, before they just go too flat to be useful. This is about 1-2 hrs a day. Open cell: lasts about 1 week of the same usage. Ultimately I found that trying to wash the UE foamies gained me so little (like, 1 hour extra listening time before they crapped out) that I gave up and started tossing them after a week. But this got $$ so I sold the Super.fi and went back to the UM2. D.

Thanks for the feedback on that. This is the impression I have as well. But I've been playing so much with these earplugs / tips lately, I couldn't say for sure. I don't know if the Altec / Ety foam tips are treated PVC foams, but the stock foamies I have from the iM716s seem to have a longer wear life than the earplugs (E-A-R Classics). But then again, I really abused the earplugs and have treated the supplied foamies pristinely.

I think the "bounce" factor may have to do with the very open cell structure (coarse) of the PVC vs the smaller cell structure (smooth) of the urethane. The latter seems kind of like a memory foam.

Wonder if anyone wants to try to make some memory foam tips? I think those would be the ultimate- exceptional form fitting and very dense. It may be a problem in winter though, they may lose some of their elasticity.

 

[poonpower]

So when is Shure going to release the black washable foamies??
I am so eager to try them out.

 

[mektarus]

So has anyone tried any of these with the CX300/EP-630/MD33?

 

[Mahoro]

Any ideas of where can I get those construction ear plugs

As well as the plastic tube for the inner part.
I don't see them in home depot.

 

[smooth_boarder]

I just made my own... It took me about 5 min for both foamies. I found the first pair of earplug available. Cut them a little longer than the plastic tubing I removed from my old foamies. The Shure foamies I had glued the earplug to the tubing, so it was a little messy to remove.

I happend to have a tiny metal rod that would fit the PVC tubing. I punched a little hole in the new earplug... placed the tubing over the metal rod... and guided the tubing into the earplug through the tiny hole I punched. I did not bother gluing the tubing to the earplug, and I cannot foresee it coming lose. I don't believe you will leave the earplug inside your ear either.

Mine was done with brute force with max gratification, min effort in mind... With a little more time, I believe some factory quality foamies would be possible.

SQ: The sound quality definitely imporved or should I say recovered... I've been using 'shrinking' foamies for a while, so I kind of forget how the IEM sounded in the first place. Obviously, the most improvement being the bass.

I would encourage anyone who has a set of dead foamies to give this a try.

 

[jSatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mahoro Any ideas of where can I get those construction ear plugs As well as the plastic tube for the inner part. I don't see them in home depot.

Plugs: The earplugs can be had from the Ear Plug Store (see top of page- ‘Sponsors’). As they'll sell as little as 1 pair, it's very convenient to try many flavors before you buy a bunch. Check it out, it's a real candy store for these things:

http://store.yahoo.com/earplugstore/difoearpl.html

Tubing: The foam wears out, but not the 'audio' tubes. Easiest to just scavenge the tubes from the old foamies. Alternatively, tubing can be found at a pet store (aquarium tubing; thanks to dvallere, as per earlier post) a laboratory supply store, or another hardware store if not in Home Depot.

Good luck!

 

[dvallere]

Heh, we need to start a "Post pictures of your designer foamies" thread!

 

[jSatch]

Dear noorudeenshakur and the other participants of this thread;

I think this is an important thread that will allow people to explore making their own foam ear tips. More vital than cost savings, IMHO, is the ability to compare more tips for your own IEM (and ear canal) than was before possible.

However, the limitation here is the title of the original post, which is “Shure and UM2”. I started a new thread that may be more appropriately entitled, for how much this thread has expanded, to a more generic “Homemade Foam Ear Tips for IEMs”.

I hope this move does not offend anyone. I thought about this and hesitated starting a new thread. My sole intention is simply to, at least hopefully, open this thread to a wider audience of Head-Fi’ers by making the title more generic. Between the two threads I think we attain this goal.

Cheers, JS

 

[noorudeenshakur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jSatch Dear noorudeenshakur and the other participants of this thread; I think this is an important thread that will allow people to explore making their own foam ear tips. More vital than cost savings, IMHO, is the ability to compare more tips for your own IEM (and ear canal) than was before possible. However, the limitation here is the title of the original post, which is “Shure and UM2”. I started a new thread that may be more appropriately entitled, for how much this thread has expanded, to a more generic “Homemade Foam Ear Tips for IEMs”. I hope this move does not offend anyone. I thought about this and hesitated starting a new thread. My sole intention is simply to, at least hopefully, open this thread to a wider audience of Head-Fi’ers by making the title more generic. Between the two threads I think we attain this goal. Cheers, JS

Great Thread Bro!

 

[jSatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by noorudeenshakur Great Thread Bro!

Thanks Man!!

I really didn't want to hijack your important thread, just to hopefully attract a wider audience.

The hits seemed to have dropped off a lot. Funny, it was the single most significant, and customizable, mod I have performed. So thanks for starting the ball rolling. I’m a happy camper because of it.

Cheers

 

[noorudeenshakur]

Glad To Have Helped!

 

[kelvinz]

sweet!

 

[Dunbar]

Justed wanted to post my recent success making my own UM2 foamies. Bought the following locally:

1/8" Black Tubing - Sprinkler section of Home Depot (enough for about a zillion foamies)
Leather Punch - Michael's (art's & crafts chain)
Earplugs - Any drugstore

Honestly I don't know why everyone here obsesses about the type of earplug, I'm too cheap to pay shipping! The tubing is almost an exact match. I set the the leather punch on the biggest "die" and you have to pull the earplug over the die to punch out the middle. Then I just pull the earplug over the tubing like a sock (no need for glue, and crazy glue dries too fast anyway.) Haven't figured out how to trim the plugs to size cleanly but they work as good as the ripoff stockers. Now I can throw out my oldies knowing I have a plentiful supply of new tips that fit my ears perfectly.

 

[BigFNDeal]

HAs anyone tried with the super.fi 3 Studio IEM's? I saw a few posts that talked about the SF5's, are the 3's the same? I am eager to work on this. I am trying to budget for a portable rig upgrade and this mod might let me keep my IEMs and use the money for the headphone upgrade towards a dap.